Ahhh the Romans’ most fortunate day of the week. Here we offer dubious honour to Priapus, the god often most found holding a fruit basket. That’s no cornucopia!
While the auction house listed this piece as a rare C1st BCE intaglio, my suspicion is its a fake. Ancient Roman phalluses rarely came with balls when you could have another phallus! Something about the lightning bolts also feels off. What do you think?
@phistorians I agree, why add balls when cxyou can have another phallus instead? Also the testicles are too huge. Not even satyrs are depicted with huge testes. These are the finds I do have of fascina with balls and none of them look similar to the engraving.
This maenad is certainly living up to her reputation! As a devotee of Dionysus she appears nude holding a thyrsos staff and touching a disembodied phallus! This C2nd BCE amethyst simply shines!
🪷 #PhallusThursday This photo is banned from Meta Threads, Facebook and Instagram for frontal nudity! Marble copy of Capitoline #Antinous 60 cm high. Students' work, 19th Century. Private collection, Brussels. No nude images on Meta Threads! 🪷
The best part was pointing out this excellent phallic display to passing English tourists, who were shocked in that awkward English way, and took a picture to end our interaction. I was like, you’re about to miss the best part of Pompeii!